Brian Fitzpatrick, Google's first Chicago-based engineer and a leader in the company's work on censorship and government surveillance, is leaving the Internet giant to join chef Grant Achatz and business partner Nick Kokonas, the team behind Alinea,...

After 10 iterations in which Next has looked outward, creating menus inspired by cuisine from turn-of-the-century Paris, street food from Thailand and the gastronomic wonders of El Bulli chef Ferran Adria, the shape-shifting Next has adopted an inward...

Approachable. That's the idea behind Boomerang, the new cherry liqueur developed by Micah Melton, beverage director at The Aviary, Grant Achatz's high-concept cocktail kitchen.
That's not to say the spirit isn't complex. It is. Boomerang features an...

There's something about coming across a newly vacated restaurant that feels like a gut punch.
Businesses close all the time in sometimes startling, often melancholy-inducing ways. (Dominick's RIP.)
But you shop in stores. You live in restaurants....

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All-star collaboration: Last year, the James Beard Foundation took its act on the road with a pop-up culinary series called "Taste America." For this year’s stop in Chicago, the chefs involved are a veritable all-star team. The event will be held at the Trump International Hotel on Friday, Oct. 17 and headlined with a four-course dinner by Alinea’s Grant Achatz, Sixteen’s Thomas Lents and renowned Charleston/Nashville chef Sean Brock. Their opening act, so to say, will feature small...

A mysterious blog tipped us off this morning to the possibility that Nick Kokonas, Grant Achatz and the team behind cocktail spot The Aviary and restaurants Next and Alinea had a new project in the works.
Kokonas, a partner in all three venues, confirmed that it was indeed him quoted in the blog post, and tells RedEye that the team currently is looking for a location for a new "drinking establishment."
So, does that mean an Aviary part two?
No, according to Kokonas, who said the "drinking...

Last month, the manager of the Beverly Hills restaurant Red Medicine shamed diners who didn't turn up for their Saturday night reservations by calling them out on Twitter.
"I hope you enjoyed your GF's Bday and the flowers that you didn't bring when you no-showed for your 815 res," Noah Ellis tweeted. "Thanks."
But shame is only one tactic used by restaurateurs working to make sure their seats are filled each night.
This coming week, anyone looking to score a table at hotly anticipated Trois Mec,...

The first rule of business — any business — is this: Do what you do well.
And what Chicago does well is drink.
Oh, there are other things to be sure (architecture! comedy! baseball!), but in this city, booze is as much a business as it is a way of life. Perhaps that passion stems from Chicago's history. It was, after all, a bootlegger's playground during Prohibition.
After bellying up to some of the city's best bars, I can say the tradition lives on. The craft cocktail movement, which...

Last night, the ticketing system for Next, Grant Achatz's highly anticipated new era-themed fine dining restaurant, was still experiencing glitches, despite promises that today -- er, yesterday -- was the day.
"We are burning the midnight oil here trying to figure out some last minute snags," was the Facebook verdict just after midnight Tuesday. The rub: Next's complex online ticketing system, the only means by which reservations can be made for the venue's staggered seatings, wasn't taking to Internet...

Best in Chicago. Best in North America. Closing in on best in the world.
Grant Achatz is rapidly running out of titles to secure.
Alinea was named the No. 6 restaurant in the world by London-based Restaurant magazine in its annual ranking of the top 50 restaurants in the world Wednesday, adding a little more luster to an already shining profile. Alinea ranked No. 7 last year.
"It’s an amazing honor to be the No. 1 restaurant in North America for the second year in a row,” said Nick Kokonas,...